Khoury May’s first year as a head coach was a memorable opening act.
From her very first match, where Cedar Ridge defeated Person in five sets, 2025 was a special year filled with one accolade after another at a school that has developed a rich volleyball heritage over the past decade.
On Monday, May was named the 5A State Coach of the Year by the North Carolina Volleyball Coaches Association.
May, who was the junior varsity coach at Seaforth in 2024, led Cedar Ridge to its Big 7 Regular Season championship, the conference Tournament championship and kept the Red Wolves #1 in the 5A Classification’s RPI rankings from wire-to-wire this season.
In addition, both of Cedar Ridge’s outside hitters were named to the 5A All-State first-team. Senior Claire Hargett and freshman Dani Solomon were the two leaders in kills this season.
“They both meant so much this season,” May said following its win over Seaforth in the Big 7 Tournament championship match. “When I first started here, they were really welcoming to me. They brought our freshman and everyone together and I think they created a great team culture for our team. They’ve been great point scorers for us and momentum changers for us. I love watching them play.”
May replaced Latacha De Oliveira as head coach over the summer. This season, she wound up facing many of the same Seaforth players she coached last season as the Red Wolves faced the Hawks four times, including in the state quarterfinals.
A 2018 graduate of Northwood High School, May started coaching after playing three seasons with the University of Lynchburg. She started her college career at Bridgewater after four years at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, where she was a four-time All-Conference selection with the Chargers.
Cedar Ridge concluded 2024 losing three matches to crosstown rival Orange, the final time in the third round of the 3A State Playoffs. Orange returned all but three seniors from the squad that was one questionable call away from playing for the 3A Eastern Regional championship, but the Red Wolves grabbed the limelight from the very beginning of this season.
The aforementioned win over Person matched up two teams that would make deep playoff runs. In the second week of the season, the Red Wolves defeated 7A squad Grimsley in Greensboro, which served as notice that it would be a memorable season. The Red Wolves would win its first 17 matches, the best start in school history. They also defeated Grimsley, who went undefeated in the Metro Conference, once again in Hillsborough on September 24.
Right away, Cedar Ridge gained the inside track on the Big 7 Conference regular season championship. They swept Orange at Panther Gymnasium. Two days later, they defeated Seaforth in four sets at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
Solomon finished with a season-high 26 kills and 18 digs against the Hawks in the opening match. Hargett would register 17 kills and ten digs.
Hargett, who has committed to Division III Washington & Lee, registered 287 kills. She broke the school record for kills by Cameron Lloyd against Durham School of the Arts on October 7. She became the first player in school history to surpass 1,100 career kills against Orange in the conference tournament semifinals. Her season-high for kills came against Jordan, when she put up 20 on August 20 in Hillsborough. In the Big 7 Conference Championship match against Seaforth, Hargett surpassed 1,000 digs.
Solomon complimented Hargett on the attacking end as a devastating 1-2 option that opposing teams struggled to contain. After arriving at Cedar Ridge from Discovery Charter School, Solomon would lead the Red Wolves with 294 kills as a freshman. Solomon had 16 kills in her first high school match against Person. She would tally over 20 kills three times, including 21 in a 3-1 win over Person on September 29 in Roxboro. It would be only one of two matches that the Rockets would lose at home all year.
